Tuesday, September 20, 2011

"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the Kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, 'The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, "Lo, here!" or "Lo, there!" For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.'" - Luke 17:20-21

"Keep within. And when they say, Look here or look there is Christ, go not fourth, for Christ is within you. And those who try to draw your minds away from the teaching inside you are opposed to Christ. For the measure's within, and the light of God is within, and the pearl is within you, though hidden." - George Fox (1652), Adapted by Paulette Meier

The Kingdom of Heaven is not something for us to build. It is not an ideal future that we are constructing. Rather, it is a present reality that we are invited to participate in, at this very moment.

Our citizenship in this divine Kingdom is revealed by the way we relate to others. Do we brush them aside, in search of the ideal? Or do we recognize Christ's presence in the people, places and situations that frustrate us?